Fruit Picking, Trestle Bridges and Pools - Kelowna 2020

Vacations have been few and far between these days. Travel options are limited with land borders closed, and flight options highly reduced. Tom and I wanted to get one summer holiday under our belt before the girls go back to daycare, and before I take some time off to recover from an umbilical hernia surgery.

So, with these many limitations in mind, we decided to make the drive with the girls to Kelowna. On the way there, we drove to Revelstoke our first night, so that we could hit the Enchanted Forest with the girls the following day. We grabbed breakfast in Revelstoke, and took a short walk around the downtown area. Lacey and Scarlett thought the bike racks were the greatest thing they'd ever experienced! 

Lacey remembered going to the Enchanted Forest in June 2019, but it was a whole new experience for Scarlett. She wandered around with a look of pure wonder on her face, squealing at us to come see each time she saw a new character or house. 

Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house. 

Riding a horse at the Enchanted Forest Farm.

We made our way to Kelowna with a few stops, and made ourselves comfortable in the hotel. We lucked out with an upgrade of a lakeside view room, which was actually very lovely! It gave us a great view of the pool, which the girls absolutely loved-- especially the orange spiral waterslide. 

The following day, we went to do some fruit picking. Pears, plums and peaches are currently in season, and we had to limit ourselves to how much fruit we actually picked (Lacey and Scarlett were in a fruit picking frenzy). I could definitely live with a peach tree in my back yard! 

We spent the afternoon in the pool. It was not a particularly warm afternoon, but the pool was heated. Lacey made a new best friend, a little girl name Oralee, and Scarlett wore three bathing suits layered to keep her blue lips away (spoiler alert: it didn't work, and she was NOT pleased about leaving the pool!). We ended each dip in the pool with a hot bath in the hotel room to get everyone's blood circulating again!

The following day, we bundled up, and headed to the Myra Canyon Trestle Bridge Trail. We rented bikes, and a bike carrier so that we could ride along the paths and bridges. Lacey used a tag-along attachment on the back of Tom's bike. She was a bit scared at first, but she caught on quickly, and liked being able to see everything from her seat. Scarlett did not love the carrier. It was bumpy, and she was by herself.

The best part of the trail for the girls were the two tunnels we biked through. They were dark and thrilling for the kids!

For the remainder of the trip, we visited parks and played in the pool. We also spent a morning at the beach, but apparently forgot to take any actual pictures of our time at the beach!

We also ate our fill of ice cream on the trip, finishing it off with a stop at Dutchmen's Dairy on our way home.

It was a short little getaway, but it was some much-needed family time.

Thanks for your hospitality, Kelowna!

Worst. Gardeners. Ever.

 Tom and I had big plans for our garden this year. Much like last year, we grew yellow beans, green beans, spinach, peas, carrots, rainbow carrots, green onions, lettuce, zucchini, beets and tomatoes.

Our spinach and yellow beans were decimated by slugs. Our zucchini plants have been overcome by mold. I've finally realized that I likely played a huge role in both the inundation of slugs and the mold. And it's all because I kept watering the garden at night. Getting out to work every morning is challenging enough, while herding a 2 and 4 year old. Getting out to work every morning while herding two kids and trying to water the garden seems impossible. So, I had been watering the garden every night after the girls went to bed. Oh yes, this was a mistake. The garden was moist all night long, so the slugs could have their feeding frenzy, and water would sit on the zucchini leaves all night, creating the perfect environment for mold growth.

Needless to say, our slug beer traps were very, VERY full this year. Gross.

Despite these setbacks, our first harvest of beans and cucumber was quite impressive! 

I got to pickling them immediately!

While harvesting the cucumbers, I came across quite a surprise... Mainly, this giant bright orange freak cucumber that was nearly the size of a mango. My first thought was, "WHAT IS THAT!?" Some quick googling told me that this was an overripe cucumber. Even now, I'm not sure how it grew so big, and how we missed it. It's at least five times larger than any of the other cucumbers on the vine... And the colour makes it hard to miss.

Another recent discovery has led me to believe that it is possible we are the worst gardeners, ever. While clipping off some of the moldy zucchini leaves, I discovered a MASSIVE zucchini that had been growing, unbeknownst to us. You can really get a good appreciation for how big it is when Scarlett is holding it!

So, gardening lessons were learned in 2020. There will be no more night time watering in 2021. I'm looking forward to tasting our tomatoes, when they (eventually) ripen. And I'm looking forward to the multi-coloured jars of pickled rainbow carrots that will be in our fall future.

Small Adventures 2.0 in the Time of COVID-19

Emerald Lake is such a lovely little gem. A mere 2.5 hours away, it's nestled in the mountains with a rustic but comfortable lodge, good food, and beautiful scenery. Tom proposed to me at Emerald Lake, and the last time we were there, in 2015, I was six months pregnant with Lacey. Emerald Lake was the destination for our first family getaway since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We picked the girls up early from dayhome and made the drive to the lodge. The girls did not enjoy being in the car for an extended amount of time, and there was a lot whining. But we made it to the hotel, and to our room, and then came the first challenge...

This was our first time sharing a "normal" hotel room with the family. Scarlett has been an unsettled sleeper for most of her life, so we've always booked suites with a separate bedroom, or multiple hotel rooms so that the entire family isn't woken up at 2:30am when Scarlett randomly screams in herr sleep, or at 5:15am, when Scarlett chooses to start her day. Every. Day.

It didn't go too badly. Scarlett and Lacey shared a bed the first night, and they both slept fairly well. Although if I'm honest, Scarlett fell out of bed at 3am, and she did indeed wake up at 5:30am, as per usual.

So we started our day early with breakfast, and then we headed out to the lake for a little canoeing!

Lacey and Scarlett liked being out on the water, but Scarlett started to get bored after about 35 minutes. They took turns helping me paddle. But again, if I'm honest... Tom did most of the paddling. Have I mentioned that I don't really like canoeing?

While Scarlett was napping in the afternoon, Tom and I took turns doing mother-daughter, and father-daughter dates with Lacey. We enjoyed the one-on-one time with each other , and we enjoyed the quiet time while Scarlett was sleeping. Lacey and I had Shirley Temples on our mommy-daughter date, they were a big hit!

The following day, we decided to do a short hike around the lake. If you've been to Emerald Lake before, you know there is a lakeside path that follows the perimeter of the lake. It is highly, HIGHLY frequented by tourists and hikers, and we had only made it about 10 minutes away from the main parking lot before Lacey and Scarlett started complaining. A few minutes before we had passed a man who had asked us if we'd seen the bear he'd heard about-- we told him no, and continued on our way. Once the girls started complaining, we found the nearest bench, and sat down for a snack. As we were finish our snack, Tom stood up and turned around to pack our backpack-- and calmly told us, "Well, there is the bear, watching us, just off the path". And indeed, there was a black bear watching us intently from some bushes on the side of the path. We quickly hustled the girls behind us, and stuffed our food into our backpack. After a moment of contemplation (how do we get back on the path? We'd have to get closer to the bear, before we could get away from it), we heard voices approaching. I called out to a couple who was hiking towards on the path to warn them about the bear. The couple called back to us, and their voice was enough to spook the bear back into the brush. An unpleasantly close call, in my opinion! We headed back to the lodge after that-- warning other hikers on our way that we had seen a black bear!

The girls were on intense slug-watch for the trip. I always forget how big the banana slugs get in BC... Gross.

In the evening, we roasted smores in the fireplace in our room, and snuggled in bed with some Netflix. Overall, I think it was a successful trip!

Small Adventures in the Time of COVID-19

 I've been back to work for about a month now. I've survived yet another mass layoff. This one took nearly 25% of the total staff, but 50% of the geologists-- people who are near and dear to my heart, people that I've worked with for 4, 6, 8 or more years. People who are my friends. I feel like I've had a layoff hangover for weeks. It's hard to focus, it's hard to get back in the routine. This is the sixth round of layoffs in seven years,  and surely, this won't be the last. It's seems inevitable that eventually either Tom or I will get forced out of our job. And it's with this very depressing thought that I was utterly relieved when Tom's parents agreed to watch the girls for a couple nights. Tom and I hopped into the car (because it's SO EASY TO PACK when it's just the two of us!), and away to Banff we went. Big adventures are not on the agenda these days, but small adventures we can manage! 

The Banff Springs Hotel is fairly newly re-opened to the public. Masks are mandated whenever you are in shared spaces on the property. Rooms are at 50% capacity, cleaning staff does not come into your room once it's occupied, and they leave the room unoccupied for 48 hours after a guest has vacated. This is the world we live in now. Safety measures every way you turn (I'm not complaining).

Tom and I had a lovely stay. We lingered over breakfast, we wandered down Banff Avenue with coffees, we repeatedly harassed Tom's parents for pictures of the girls.

Years ago, we drove to the Sulphur Mountain gondola with the intention of taking it to the top. I don't remember what the price was then, but we did a hard pass on the gondola and decided one day we would hike instead. Maybe that was as long as a decade ago... But today it's $70/person to take the gondola up to mountain (um, insane!). So, we finally found the opportunity to hike to the top.

The Sulphur Mountain trail is a 10km roundtrip of well maintained switchbacks. The views are not really anything special on the way up, but the panorama at the top is well worth it. There is an extensive network of platforms and stairs to get the best views of the valleys and mountains in all directions. The peak was busy with hikers and gondola riders. It was a really lovely afternoon.

When we made it to the bottom, we had cocktails and dinner at the German pub in the Banff Springs. And we slept an uninterrupted night, with no kids to wake us up at all hours. We lingered over another breakfast, and then headed back to the city to smother our girls with kisses and hunker down for another week of work. But, there are more small adventures in our near future!

Stay tuned. 

Scarlett Turns Two

I think every parents must feel like a broken record when they reflect on how fast time is passing. It seems like just yesterday Scarlett was stumbling around, taking her first steps. Now she's running, jumping, riding her balance bike, insisting on walking up and down the stairs on her own, and generally terrorizing her sister on a daily basis. I love everything about her!

This little fiery red-head turned two today. She is a force to be reckoned with. She knows what she wants-- and she will do what she has to do to get it. Scarlett loves Peppa Pig. She loves taking care of her dolls and stuffed animals. She loves swimming and charges into water without a second thought for safety! She is a dare devil. She loves climbing at the park, she goes down slides on her own, she is constantly declaring, "No! I do it!" She likes to pick her own clothes, she likes to wear her big sister's socks and shirts, her favourite shirt is pink with a white poodle on it.

Scarlett loves her family-- not just her mom, dad and sister, but her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. At bedtime after visiting with family, she tells us, "I miss grandma and grandpa", and wants reassurance that she'll see them again soon. She loves ice cream, and chocolate, and gummy candies and apple juice.  And Scarlett loves "hoppies" (aka, bunnies), which is why I made her some Hoppy cupcakes for her birthday this year.

Scarlett is such a joyful little girl. Happy birthday, to our big two year old!

Back to Work in the Time of COVID-19

The last few weeks have been full of worry and angst, as we prepare to go back into the "regular" world. There's nothing normal about the regular world anymore, as social distancing, face masks and standing in appropriately spaced lines become ordinary.

It has taken a lot of time for me to get used to the fact that I'm going back to work. I'm personally not too worried about being back in the office-- my company has implemented a slew of safety procedures in the office, including daily symptom self-screening, face masks, continuing virtual meetings, 3-people per elevator, and encouraging frequent hand washing. I've decided that I'll bike into work for the spring and summer-- and as far into the Fall as I can convince myself to manage the cold.

The part that's been hardest for me is putting our kids out into the world again. At 4, and almost 2, they just aren't quite old enough to understand what's happening. Scarlett is a rampant finger-sucker, and I don't think I can even count the number of times a day I utter the phrase, "Take that out of your mouth" to either of the girls.

We've been lucky that we've spent the last three months safe, at home. And the province has collectively done a good job at flattening the curve and reducing case numbers. But as things get back to a semblance of "normal", case numbers will inevitably rise. And I don't want to even think about how cold and flu season is going to play out this year!

I'm trying my hardest to focus on the positive things we've managed to do during these last few weeks at home... Before being back to work. So, here are some highlights of our spring.

There was baking. Looooots of baking. The girls really love banana chocolate chip muffins. But I think they're solely in it for the chocolate chips.

Lacey and I have done a ton of window painting. She loved the giant rainbow we painted on our front window, and we have seen plenty of people stop to admire our handiwork.

We roasted marshmallows on the BBQ to make smores!

We watched all those seeds we planted sprout into hearty tomato and cucumber seedlings.

We went on worm hunts in the rain.

There was some sleepy moments... Because Scarlett plays so very hard, and crashes even harder!

There have been cocktails... Oh, thank you LuluBar for the COVID-cocktails.

 There have been bike rides and picnics.  

There have been games!

Perhaps one of my favourite things about our time at home has been the increasing number of times I have come across these carefully staged scenes of toys lined up in some sort of action narrative. Sometimes I'm actively involved in the play, but sometimes I find them without realizing the girls had been playing. And I wonder, what were these ponies all doing in the car? Where were they going?

                                     

There will be more good times as the summer unfolds. But for now, wish me luck, as I head back to work.

Love in the Time of COVID-19

Earlier this year, my long-time friend, Steve, told us that he was getting married this year. Just a small affair, immediate family and he and his bride's best friends.

To say I was looking forward to it is an understatement. I love weddings. I love love, and I love seeing other people in love-- especially Steve, who is cynical and mush-adverse in so many ways. 

As the pandemic set in, group events were limited and business began to close down. Steve and Mizcha got word that they would have to postpone their wedding reception. Their venue was one of the many business that was closing indefinitely.

Steve and Mizcha took it all in stride. They said they still planned to get married on their planned date, and they would have their party when they were able. Steve's sister sent out invitations so she could host the ceremony at her house. But as COVID-19 restrictions tightened, she eventually had to cancel that as well. 

But Steve and Mizcha still got married, and we still got to participate in our own small way. Steve's sister, Kate, married them on Sunday, May 3 in an appropriately socially distanced ceremony on her driveway. Her husband, daughter, Jeff and Gwen and Mizcha's best friend attended as witnesses.

I watched with Ashley, Steve's parents and Mizcha's friend, Dave, on Zoom. I attended wearing a yellow t-shirt with a dinosaur on it. 

Congratulations, Mizcha and Steve! I'm so glad you didn't let COVID-19 slow down your plans.